Towel cabinet



' y 1936. J. N. BORROUGHS 2,043,099

7 TOWEL CABINET Filed Feb. 23, 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR 75SEPH 60194 00663 ATTORNEY July 21, 1936. J. N BORROUGHS TOWEL CAB INET Filed Feb. 23, 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 A3 7 T Z f I I 8 2 W, M x. n i z w L, g a w T 3 INVENTOR Joan /WV flak/(006M? wax d TTORNEY July 21, 1936. J. N. BORROUGHS TOWEL CABINET Filed Feb. 23, 1934 4 Sheets-Sheet I5 Z I W INVENTOR JbsePH lV. fiomvo (lo/1.5"

y 1936. J. N. BORROUGHS 2,048,099

TOWEL CABINET 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Feb. 23, 1934 Patented July 21, 1936 UNITE sTTs .ATENT OFFICE TOWEL CABINET Joseph N. Burroughs, Oakland, Calif.

Application February 23 1934, Serial No. 712,576

17 Claims. (01312-87) This invention is a cabinet provided with means for storing and dispensing towels and similar articles.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a suitable cabinet with adequate spacefor storing and dispensing clean towels and for the storage 7 of the soiled towels until they may be conveniently removed for laundering. v r

A. further object is to provide means for maintaining a plurality of towels in a unitary pack as- .sembly, and means .for. storing and dispensing them in such manner that individual towels are madeyavailable for use without permitting complete separation thereof. A further object is to provide means by which a plurality of towels'may be retained in a unitary pack assembly by suitable flexible members, and means for so engaging the towels while engaged with the flexible members as to permit the towels to be used in succession and then placed in the storage compartment,

without becoming disengaged from said flexible members. A further object is to provide. simple and eflicient means for supporting a unitary pack assembly of towels in dispensing position and so constructed and arranged as to hold the flexible retaining members in such manner as notto interfere with the dispensingoperation. A further object is to provide simple means for maintaining a .pack assembly of unused towels in compact feeding relation and to maintain a feeding pressure upon them.

The invention will be hereinafter full'y'setforth and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In theaccompanying drawings:-. H Figure 1 is a front elevation of a towel dispensing cabinet constructed in accordance with the invention. Figure 2 is a side elevation thereof. Figure 3 is an enlarged front elevation with the doors removed. Figure 4 is avertical sectional ,view ofv Figure 3. Figure 5 is a top plan view with the top member removed, and showing the presser member in operative position. Figure 6 is an en- :larged front elevation illustrating the presser guide members arranged for opposite sides of the cabinet.

Referring to the drawings, C designates a cabinet which may be constructed of any suitable material. the same being constructed of a body l having an upper anda lower compartment. The upper compartment is covered by two doors II and I2 provided with cut-out portions forming a slot l3 capable of exposing the outermost towel of a pack assembly of clean, unused towels T. The 10 .lower compartment is closed by a door l4 hinged at the bottom of the cabinet and provided at its upper end with a transversecut-away portion I5 which cooperates with similarly arranged cutaway portions IS of the doors ll, l2 to provide a transverse slot I1 through which may be seen the outermost soiled towel T of the towel pack unit. The door M is yieldably held in closed position by means of spring hinges I8 and the doors I I, I2 are held in closed position by-suitable hooks I 9. The cabinet C may be supported in any desired man- 'ner', but for purposes of illustration is provided with eyelets by means of which it may be suspended from a wall or other support in a well known manner. Rigidly secured to the back wall of the cabinet! is a keeper K, preferably in the form of a stirrup-like body 2| provided with diverging arms 22, said body and arms being provided with flanges 23 by which the keeper -is secured in position. Two of such keepers are preferably employed with each cabinet, and ar- -ranged in spaced relation as clearly shown in Figure 3 of thedrawings. Each towel is provided with spaced apart openings 0 in a well known manner to receive guide members G preferably of U-shape, as shown in Figures 4 and 11. One arm 25 of each guide G is provided with a tapered head 26 complemental to the stirrup 2i, the extremityof the other arm 2! of said guide member being free as shown. The towels T of a pack are maintained in permanent inseparable relation by 'means of endless flexible members such as cords 36 which are passed through the openings 0 of the towels which have been provided for the reception of the guides G. The cords 30 may be secured in any suitable manner, but as shown in Figures 10 :and 11 the extremities of each cord are united by a coupling sleeve 3|. By this arrangement, the towels are retained in a unitary assembly at all times not only during dispensing, but also during laundering. In order to permit dispensing of the towels whileengaged by the flexible members 30, the arms 25 and 2'! of the guide members G are provided with longitudinal grooves 32 of a depth to receive and retain the flexible member from lateraldisplacement. The head 26 is also provided with an angularly arranged groove 33 communicating with the groove 32 in such manner that the flexible member may also be passed around the 'end of the head and be clamped between the head 26 and the back wall of the case or cabinet, as shown in Figure 11. This arrangement permits the flexible member 30 to be drawn tightly around its guide G and head 26 and the slack drawn into thespace between the arms of the guide member as shown in Figure 11, and the clamping of the flexible member against slippage between the head'26 and the free end of the arm 21, thereby holding the flexible member and they towels carried thereby in such manner that the towels may be freely moved over the guide members G. 7

Each towel is preferably provided with an opening 35,, as shown in detail in Figure 9 and is also provided with a tab- 36 preferably of triangular shape. In order to retain the clean, unused towels .in vertical position, a supporting device S is pro- 7 vided, the same being formed of a plate-like back 31 having secured thereto a safety pin-like deviceconsisting of a normally stationary member 38 and a movable member 39 connected with the member 38 by a spring portion 40. The member the pointed end of. the member 39. The support member is maintained in position by a keeper 7 plate 42 secured to a bar 43 depending from the top of the cabinet C and provided with groovesso arranged as to be slidably engaged by the. edges of the plate '31. In practice, the pack assembly of towels is supported in vertical position by first .:being engaged with the arm 39 of the support member S, which is passed through the openings 35 in the towels, and then engaged with the hook 4 I. The support member is then slidably inserted in the keeper 42; The two guides G are then inserted through the openings 0 of the clean towels in such manner that the cords 30 may be brought into the grooves .32, andthen said guides are engaged with their respective keepers K, thereby supporting thetowels in, dispensing position. In this connection, it will be noted that the member S engages the towels neartheir upper edges; and the guides G engage the towels near their lower edges. 7 In order that the towels may be fed forwardly as needed, a presser. plategP isprovided, the same beingslidably mounted upon rods 45 secured in suitable manner within the cabinet.

Suitable springs encircling said rods and bearing against the rear end of the case tend to normally urge 'thepresser member P to a forward position.

Said presser member is also provided with a slot 41 pensing a pack of towels, the presser member P is to provide clearance for the support member S. The presser P maybe held in retracted position against the tension of the springs 46 by means of detents 46 shown in the form of resilient members anchored at one end to the side walls of the .case with their other ends normally. projecting into the path of movement of the pressermember.

The side walls of the cabinet'are provided with recesses 49 to receive the detents 48 so that'while they are in retracted position the presser member is free to move forwardly under the tension of its springs.

To charge the cabinet for the purpose of dismoved back until it clearsthe free ends of the detents 48, whereupon said detents will retain the presser-member'in retracted position. A unitary pack or towels T held against permanent separalaundering and while being dispensed; A further advantage is that simple. meansv have, beencprovided by means of which the dispensing of the towels'is accomplished withoutrequiringia distion by two cords 30 is engaged with a support member S in the manner already described. This may be done at the laundry after launder ing, or it may be done at the time that the cabinet is charged. In either event, after the support member S is properly engaged with the V 7 towels, said support member is inserted into engagement with the guide 42. Each series of holes 0 is then engaged with: a guide member G in the manner already described, and said guide members are engagedwith their keepers in such manner as to take up the slack 1 of the cords 36 and to prevent loosening thereof during the dispensing operation. Thefreeend of the member 39 is then disengaged from the I hook M and the towels are thereby released to be fed forwardly, their upper ends being supported by the arm 39 and their lower ends being guided and held in spread relation by means of the guides G. By then pressing the detents 48 into their recesses 49, the presser member P is released but the same is held by the operator in such manner as'to prevent maximum forward movement thereof until the doors llanfdl2 have been closed and secured in locked position. It will be noted that the tab 36 of the foremost towel T is then projecting through the slot l3.

When it is desired to use a towel, the tab 36.

of the outermost towel is grasped and the towel is pulled forwardly through the slot l3 and out of engagement with the support member Sand it will slide forwardly on the arms 25 of the guide members G until it may be drawn through the slot [1, into which the outer portionsof'said guides project. After the towel has been used,

the door, [4 maybe moved back upon its hinges I8 and the used towel allowed to drop into the 2'! connected by a U-shaped portion, the member 25 being rotatably mounted in the head 26 as shown. Said head is preferably in the form of a metal stamping provided with flanges'50 arranged in downwardly converging relation and constructedand arranged to engage a correspondingly shaped keeper 50* (Figure 3) secured to the wall of the cabinet. Each head 26 is pro-' vided' with a slot 33 to accommodate the flexible member 30 and each is provided at its lower end with a lateral slot 5| to receive the free-end of the member 2! of a guide member G. In this form the slack of the flexible member 30 is doubled upon itself to form a loop and caught in a hook 52 as clearly shown in Fig'ure 13. V 5 i The adv'antagesof the invention will be readily understood by those skilled in the art to which it belongs. For instance, it will be observed that the .towels are assembled into a unitary "pack which is maintained by the flexible cords aslong as the towels themselves, are intactboth' while connection of the flexible member,- and while said flexible member is still intact. A further advantageis that the towels arev maintained'in a convenient form for dispensingand that they may be successively usedas occasion mayrequire and the used towels stored in a proper chamber, V

I.while still engaged by the guiding .means and by -the,flexible retaining means.

Having thus explained the nature of;the in- :vention-and described an operativemanner of constructing and using the same, although-with- :,out attempting to set fortlrall. of the forms in ,which it may be made, or all of the forms of its. use, what is claimed is:,'

1. In a towel dispensing device,.thev combination with a plurality of towels, of a flexible member having its ends permanently connected in such manner as to movably hold all of said towels pin a unitary pack assembly, a cabinet, a keeper supported by said cabinet, a guiding member pro- ,operating with said keeper to grip said flexible member. 7

2. In a towel dispensing device, the combination with a plurality of towels, of a flexible member having its enclspermanently connected in such manner as to movably hold all of said towels in a unitary pack assembly, a cabinet, a keeper supported by said cabinet, a U-shaped guide member having a head complemental to said keeper and removably engaging the same, and means for presenting said towels to dispensingposition while in engagement with said guide means and said flexible member, said guide member and said head being grooved to receivesaid flexible member.

3. In a towel dispensing device comprising a cabinethaving a chamber therein, the combinationof a plurality of towels adapted to be disposed in superposed relationship in said chamber, a. flexible member formed in a closed loop movably contacting each of said towels, a rigid guide member contacting each of said towels and having a portion thereof disposed within said towel chamber, and means for securing said flexible member and-said guide member together with the portion of said flexible member contacting said towels lying subjacent the periphery of said guide member.

4. In a towel dispensing device comprising a cabinet having a chamber therein, the combination of a plurality of towels adapted to be disposed in superposed relationship in said chamber,

7 a flexible member formed in a closed loop movably contacting each of said towels, a rigid guide member contacting each of said towels and having a portion thereof disposed within said towel chamber, and means for securing said flexible member and said guide member together in parallel relationship with the portion of said flexible member contacting said towels lying subjacent the periphery of said guide member.

5. Ina towel dispensing device comprising a cabinet having a dispensing aperture therein opening into a towel chamber, the combination of a plurality of separable towels formed in a unitary pack, a flexible member formed in a closed loop movably contacting each of said towels, a U-shaped guide member having a portion thereof projecting through said aperture and contacting said towels for mounting said pack in said chamber adjacent said dispensing aperture, means for securing said flexible member to said guide member subjacent the periphery thereof, and means operable after removal of a towel through said dispensing aperture for moving the next succeeding towel into position adjacent said aperture.

6. In atowel dispensing device comprising a cabinet having a dispensing aperture therein opening into a towel chamber, the combination of a plurality of separable towels formed in a unitary pack, a flexible member formed in a closed loop" movably contacting each of said towels, a U- shaped guide member having a portion thereof projecting through said aperture and contacting said towels for mounting said pack in said chamber adjacent said dispensing aperture, means for removably securing said flexible member to said guide member subjacent the periphery thereof, andin parallel relation therewith, and means operable after removal of a towel through said dispensing aperture for moving the next succeeding towel into position adjacent said aperture.

7. In a towel dispensing device comprising a cabinet having adispensing aperture therein opening into a towel chamber, the combination of a plurality ofseparable towels formed in a unitary pack, a flexible member formed in a closed loopmovably engaging each of said towels, a U- shaped guide member engaging said towels having a portion; thereof projecting through said aperture and provided with a longitudinal groove in the surface thereof, means for securing said flexible member to said guide means positioned in said longitudinal groove, and means operable after removal of a towel through said dispensing aperture for moving the next succeeding towel into position adjacent said aperture.

8. In a towel dispensing device comprising a cabinet having a dispensing aperture therein opening into a towel chamber, the, combination of aplurality of separable towels formed in a unitary pack, a flexible member formed in a closed loop1movably engaging each of said towels, a U- shaped guide member engaging said towels having -a portion thereof projecting through said aperture and provided with a longitudinal groove .in the surface thereof, means for frictionally securing said flexible member to said guide means positioned in said longitudinal groove, and means operable after removal of a towel through said dispensing aperture for moving the next succeeda plurality of separable towels formed in a unitary pack, a flexible member formed in a closed loop movably engaging each of said towels, a U- shaped member engaging all of said towels for supporting said pack in said chamber adjacent said dispensing aperture, and means on said U- shaped member for engaging and rigidly holding said flexible member in U-shaped formation.

10. In a towel dispensing device comprising a cabinet having a dispensing aperture therein opening into a towel chamber, the combination of a plurality of separable towels formed in a unitary pack, a flexible member formed in a closed loop movably engaging each of said towels, a U-shaped member engaging all of said towels for supporting said pack in said chamber adjacent said dispensing aperture, means on said U-shaped member for engaging and rigidly holding said flexible member in U-shaped formation, and means for removably mounting said U-shaped member in said chamber.

11. In a towel dispensing device comprising a cabinet having a dispensing aperture therein opening into a towel chamber, the combination of a plurality of separable towels formed in av unitary pack, a flexible member formed in a closed loop movably engaging eaclrof said towels, a U- shaped member engaging all of said towels for supporting saidpack in said chamber adjacent said dispensing aperture, means on said U-shaped member for engaging and rigidly holding said flexible member in U-i-shaped formation, means for removably. mounting said U-shaped member in 7 said chamber, and means operable after removal flexible member in said groove in" rigid formation, and means for, mounting said rigid member in said chamber 'to support said pack adjacent said dispensing aperture.

13. In a towel dispensing device comprising a cabinet having a dispensing aperture therein opening into a chamber, the combination of a plurality of towels each having an aperture formedtherein and assembled into a unitary pack with all of said apertures in alinement, a flexible member formed in a closed loop and passing through all of said apertures, a rigid member passing through said apertures and having a longitudinal groove therein, means for securing said flexible member in said groove in rigid for mation, means for mounting said rigid member *in said chamber to support said pack adjacent said dispensing aperture, and means operable after removal of a towel from said chamber through said dispensing aperture for moving the next succeeding towel in the pack into position adjacent said aperture. V

14. In a towel dispensing device comprising a cabinet having a plurality of chambers therein, the combination of a plurality of separable towels assembled into aunitarypack, an endless flexible member engaging each of said towels, a rigid U- shaped guide member engaging said towels and having portions thereof disposed in each'of said the periphery thereof.

- -2,o4s,o99 r V chambers for guiding said" towels fromrone of said chambers to the'other, and means for re-' movably securing a portion of said flexible member to said guide means subja'cent the periphery thereof. 7 f T V i a. 15. In a towel dispensing device'comprising a cabinet having a plurality of chambers therein, the combination of a plurality'of-separable towels assembled into a unitary pack, an endless flexible member movably engaging each of saidtowelsi a guide member movablyengaging said towels for uiding said towels from one of said chambers to the'other, said guide means comprising a rigid U-shaped bar having parallel portions 'each entering a chamber, means for removably mounting said guide means in one of said'chamberaand means for removably securing 'a portion of said flexible member to said guide means sub jacent 16. In a towel dispensingdevice comprising a cabinet having a plurality of chambers therein, the combination of a plurality of separable towels assembled into a unitary pack, an endless flexible member movably engaging each of said towels, a

guide member movably engaging said towels for guiding said towels from one of said chambers to the other, said guide meanscomprising a'rigid U-shaped bar having parallel portions each entering a chamber and a longitudinal groovein the surface thereof, means for removably mounting said guide means in one of said chamber's, and

means for removably securing said flexiblememher to said guide means in said' longitudinal 1'7. In a towel dispensing device comprising a cabinet having a plurality of chambers therein, the combinationof a plurality of separable towels assembled into a unitary pack, an endless flexible cord movably engagingc each of said towels, a guide member movably engaging said towels for guiding said towels from one of said chambers to the other, said guide means comprising arigid U-shaped bar having parallel portions thereof each entering a chamber anda longitudinal" groove on the surface thereof, means for removablymounting said guide means in one of said chambers, and means for removably securing said cord to said guide means in said longitudinal roove. 7 x

' JOSEPH N. BORROUGHS; 

